No visitor in Korea this week will be more excited to see the completed 33.9-km-long seawall on the country's southwestern coast than Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

The Saemangeum land reclamation project was recently finished after nearly two decades of work, and a dedication ceremony for the world's longest seawall took place Tuesday.

With one fourth of its territory below sea level, the Netherlands developed expertise in land reclamation years ago.

In an e-mail interview with The Korea Times prior to his first visit to Korea, Balkenende congratulated Korea, saying, "The Netherlands has a long history in land reclaiming projects. We'd like to join this knowledge with the Korean ambition and can-do-spirit as this will create huge value-added in Green Growth projects like Saemangeum and the four-river project."

Balkenende arrives in Seoul today for a summit with President Lee Myung-bak.

The Dutch leader saw the reclaimed land as a rising opportunity for his country.

"In land reclamation, we have a renowned reputation as an agricultural nation as well. I'd be pleased if we could deepen and intensify cooperation in this field, too, for example, by creating a sustainable Agropark in the Saemangeum project." Agropark is a system of metropolitan agricultural production, processing and logistics suitable for a small country.

By building a compact agro-zone where agricultural products are produced, processed and delivered with high-end technologies, the Netherlands maintains its strong reputation in agriculture.

Its expertise is also being shared with Mexico, India and China, which are seeking efficiency coupled with low costs.

According to the government, 4,569 of 8,570 hectares of reclaimed land will be used for agricultural purposes that are expected to boost innovation in that industry.

Balkenende will also witness a few other MOUs signed between Korean and Dutch businesses during his two-day visit, accomplishing his "business-oriented" brief stopover in Korea en route to China where the Shanghai World Expo will open later this week.

Together with Balkenende, 38 Dutch businessmen have made the trip, including CEOs of ING, KLM, Shell, Thales and Schipol.

In their summit talks, Balkenende and President Lee are expected to discuss the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which is awaiting ratification by the parliaments of both sides.

"I believe the implementation of the FTA will be a milestone in the trade relations between Korea and the EU. For the Netherlands I believe that we will be able to increase exports to Korea," the Dutch leader said.

"Especially, sectors like services, dredging, chemicals, machines and of course the agricultural sector will benefit from better access to the Korean market," he said.

Asked about the lingering opposition from the automobile industry that reportedly delays the parliamentary ratification, he answered, "(It's) true that during the negotiations, the EU car industry raised questions and concerns about the consequences for the market position.

"However, I think negotiations adequately responded to these concerns. The result is a very strong FTA that can count on broad support."